2019 Mexico Colonial Cities Tours

The
following are brief summaries of the many Colonial Mexico
tours offered. The tours are
listed shortest to longest. Please click on the tour's name, picture or
DETAILS
button for complete tour descriptions and prices. It is
important that you recognize that many of these tours have specific
starting dates, some run every week of the year and a few only
available on request.

PLEASE NOTE -
Our tours (other than the Mexico City tours) are not "day tours" or "seat in bus" tours. Our tours are
high quality, escorted shared services tours - we do not use "local guides". Our
tours are operated with the local ground operator's own private vehicles -
accept in certain situations that are spelled out in some
itineraries, we do not utilize
"public transport".

Shared
service tours means that you are almost assured that you will be
sharing the tour with other guests and that there is no flexibility
in the itinerary. The tours are fast paced and cover a lot of
ground. Our guests tend to agree that the guides and drivers are
outstanding and that there much to see but not always enough time to
get into detail on all the attractions. Our tours are structured
this way to keep the quality high, the costs low and afford more
people the opportunity to visit these wonderful places and
experience the wonderful things on tour in a relatively short period
of time.

Please
keep in mind that we do offer these same tours or expansions of
these tours on a private basis. The pace of these private, custom
tours is much slower, more time is spent in the cities and at the
various attractions and we can modify any itinerary to accommodate
any special requests. Of course, for good reasons, these private
tours are more costly than the shared service tours.

Please let
us know if, instead of our shared service tours, you would prefer
your own private, custom tour. We would be delighted to be of
service.

Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Guanajuato

Angel de la Independencia, Mexico City

Santa Domingo de Guzman Church, Oaxaca

Independence Route
- This is our shortest tour, 6 days/5
nights, that
highlights the major Colonial Cities where
significant events took place in Mexico's
independence movement, Mexico City, Queretaro,
San Miguel de Allende, Dolores Hidalgo and
Guanajuato. Our 2019 set departure tours begin in Mexico City on
the following
Mondays - January 7 and 21, February
4 and 18,
March 4 and 18, April 1, 15 and 29, May 14 and 28, June
10 and 24, July 8 and 22, August 5 and 19, September
2, 16 and 30, October14 and 28, November 11 and
25 and December 9. (Arrive the preceding Sunday for optional Teotihuacán/Guadalupe
Shrine tour*.) The tour ends in Mexico City the following
Saturday. Private tours can start on any
date.

Wonderful Mexico
- This 7 day/6 night tour
offers a few of the most popular day tours
available in and around Mexico City using Mexico
City as a base for all accommodations, including
the city highlights aboard a "hop on, hop off"
bus, the Shrine of Guadalupe, the ruins of
Teotihuacán, Xochimilco, Cuernavaca, Taxco,
Puebla and Cholula. This tour is available
to start any day of the year. The tour can
be expanded to include even more sites and
attractions than are already part of the tour.

Colonial Oaxaca
and Archaeology - This exciting and
beautiful 8 day / 7 night tour explores the
ancient civilizations and legacy of ancient,
colonial and native Mexico. The tour includes
ruins and remnants of the Zapotec and Mixtecs
cultures plus the UNESCO World Heritage site of
Oaxaca. Begins and ends in Oaxaca Mexico. This
is a "request only" tour
that can begin any day,
year round., based on confirmation of the number
of persons on tour and the tour
price.

Teatro Degollado, Guadalajara

Dolores Hidalgo

Monte Alban

The Great Viceregal Cities
- The Path of the Spanish Conquistadores -
For 9 days / 8 nights this tour follows the path
of the Spanish Conquistadors through Mexico’s
Central Highlands from Mexico City to Morelia,
Patzcuaro, Guadalajara, Guanajuato and San
Miguel de Allende. The 2019 set departure tours begins in Mexico City
on the following Saturdays - January 12, February
9,
March 9, April 5, May 4, June 1 and 29,,
July 13, August 10, September 7, October
5, November 2 and 30. (Arrive
the preceding Friday for optional Teotihuacán/Guadalupe
Shrine tour*.) The tour ends in Mexico
City the following Sunday. Private tours
can start on any date.

Colonial Route
- This is the most
comprehensive of our Colonial Cities tours
(except this tour doesn't visit the northern
colonial city of Zacatecas). This program
allows you to visit 10 magnificent cities in
only 9 days and 8 nights. The tour begins in Mexico City
on any Monday. (Arrive on Sunday for optional Teotihuacán/Guadalupe
Shrine tour*.) The tour ends in Mexico
City the following Tuesday. Extension details on
the itinerary page.

Zapotecas and Mayas - Mexico, Oaxaca and
Chiapas. Another great 9
day/8 night tour that includes the wonders of
Mexico City and the extraordinary attractions of
the states of Oaxaca and Chiapas. This
tour combines some of the best of Colonial
Mexico with the wonders of the ancient Zapotec
and Maya civilizations. The tour begins on
Tuesdays in Mexico City and ends in either
Mexico City or Villahermosa on the following
Wednesday.
This is a
"request only" tour
that could begin any day,
year round, based on confirmation of the tour
price.

El Tajin

Cathedral, Zacatecas

Chichén Itza

Central
Mexico Archaeology Tours
- Please take a look as some wonderful
private, fast-paced tours
that explore the ancient civilizations and legacy
of ancient and colonial Mexico. These tours
includes vestiges of the Aztec, Chichimec,
Toltec, El Tajin, Olmec, Totonac, Huaxtec,
Olmeca-Xicalanca, Maya, Teotihuacán, Zapotec and
Mixtec cultures. Begins and ends in Mexico
City. This
is a "request only" tour that could begin any
day, year round, based on confirmation of the
tour price.

Colonial
Treasures Tour - Our Best of the Best tour, this 10 day/9 night
program
takes you to the most glorious and famous of
Mexico's Historic Colonial Cities, including the
northern cities of Zacatecas and Guadalajara.
In 2019 the set departures for this tour begins in Mexico City on the following
Tuesdays - January 8 and 22, February 5
and 19,
March 5 and 19, April 2, 16 and 30, May 14 and
28, June
11 and 25,
July 9 and 23, August 6 and 20, September 3 and 17, October
1, 14 and 29 and November 12 and 26, December
10. (Arrive the preceding Sunday for optional Teotihuacán/Guadalupe
Shrine tour*.) The tour ends in Mexico City the
following Thursday. Private tours can
start on any date.

The Grande
Mexpedition Tour This 12
day / 11 night comprehensive historical,
cultural and archaeological journey from Mexico
City to Cancun via Oaxaca, Chiapas, Campeche and
the Yucatan Peninsula. The tour begins on
any Tuesday in
Mexico City ends in
Cancun 12 days later. This can be a
"request only" modified tour that could begin any day,
year round., based on confirmation of the tour
price.

*An optional tour of the Guadalupe Shrine and
Teotihuacán is available with any tour that begins in Mexico City.
You would need to come in one day before the start of the selected
tour. You will be met at the airport and taken to your hotel for
the evening. The next day you will visit the Square of the Three
Cultures, where the past and the present mix, the Basilica of Our
Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of America; the impressive
archaeological zone of Teotihuacán to admire the monumental Pyramids
of the Sun and the Moon, the temple of Quetzalpapalotl, the
Citadel and the Avenue of the Dead. You will also visit an arts and
crafts center tour before being returned to you hotel for the first
night of your selected tour. The cost is $100 to $150 per
person, depending on the category of your selected accommodations.

MORE IMPORTANT INFORMATION – PLEASE
NOTE – Even though private tours are available, the tours
offered above are not private. These tours are offered on a shared
basis so you will be traveling with others. It is possible that
there will be different passengers traveling with you on some tour
days. This is so the tour can be organized in such a way so that all
passengers scheduled for that tour day can travel together. There
will be the main tour route and some other shorter routes which
overlap the main route. Again, there will not always be the same
people touring days because they will be joining the main tour and
in some of the cities visited.

TOUR LOGISTICS – Upon arrival you
will be met and greeted outside the customs area by your pick up and
transfer representative. He will provide you with our welcome packet
with the local version of your itinerary, travel recommendations and
the appropriate hotel vouchers, normally for the accommodations for
the first and last nights. Vouchers will not be provided for all
hotels on tour since your guide will be with you during your tour
and he will have those vouchers. You will then be transferred to
your first night’s hotel for check in and overnight accommodations.

During the rest of your tour you will be
picked up at the entrance of your hotel at the time designated in
your local itinerary. Then you will either begin your tour or be
transferred to a meeting place where you will join other passengers
to begin the tour. Where there is any question about the exact pick
up time at your hotel your guide will call you and/or the front desk
to confirm the exact time of his arrival at your hotel.

HOTEL CLASSIFICATIONS - Please
note the following:

The tour
prices presented anticipate accommodations while in Mexico City at
either the Hotel Geneve or the Galeria Plaza in the Zona
Rosa or at either the Historico Central or Zocalo
Central in the downtown area near the Zocalo.
Upgrade accommodations in Mexico City are available at
increased prices.

Hotels while
on tour are rated from 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 on Trip Advisor.
They are all rated as at least 4 star accommodations
under the Mexico hotel rating system. This
category includes hotels that have a high level of, but
not elaborate, service. They have adequate staffing, in
room entertainment and, in most cases, WiFi. They offer
enhanced overall physical design elements and amenities. The accommodations
guarantee cleanliness with bathrooms cleaned and linens
washed and changed daily and services such as hot water
and purified drinking water (but we do recommend bottled
water). All hotels have restaurant facilities, in
some cases a specialty restaurant, and
most offer at least limited room service hours.
Hotels on tour can be upgraded only on private tours.